Controlled angle emissive display

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/402,907, filed Aug. 31, 2022, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

Aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of emissive displays. More specifically, aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to electronic displays having angled arrays of emissive elements configured to enable lenticular-like images based on viewing angle such as with stereoscopic images.

Currently available emissive displays typically rely on lenticular lenses, LCD-based parallax barriers, or specialized eyewear to produce controlled angle display and/or stereoscopic display of an image. However, these technologies often have limited viewing angles/distances, unwanted visual defects, and reduced clarity in the projected image at non-optimal viewing angles, and inconvenient use requirements, such as battery powered eyewear, that diminish their utility for consumers. Therefore, there is a need for a controlled angle emissive display that can produce the display of distinct images at different viewing angles, i.e., controlled-angle display, and/or stereoscopic images for a viewer that provides clearer images at a broader range of viewing angles without the need for specialized eyewear. In many circumstances, the use of specialized eyewear to produce controlled-angle display or stereoscopic display of an image is impractical and limits the availability of such displays to a broad range of consumers and applications. This may be especially true for specialized eyewear that requires charging or battery power in order to operate, as this adds additional cost and inconvenience to the use of such displays.

Aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to controlled angle emissive displays having one or more angular arrays of emissive elements. In some embodiments, the angular arrays of emissive elements may be arranged to facilitate controlled-angle display of an image, e.g., the selectable viewing angle, or stereoscopic display of an image. Such embodiments may provide increased viewing angles and clarity for the controlled angle display of an image without requiring the use of lenticular lenses or specialized eyewear for a user.

Some embodiments of controlled angle emissive displays according to aspects of the present disclosure may provide increased utility and functionality for controlled angle display of an image or video by reducing the limitations of currently available controlled angle displays while also increasing the visual clarity of the controlled angle display at less restricted viewing angles and without requiring the use of specialized eyewear or other devices.

Some other embodiments of controlled angle emissive displays according to aspects of the present disclosure may also reduce light pollution in urban environments by focusing lights, signs and displays down to the viewers on the street and not up into the buildings above. Similarly, such embodiments may also facilitate controlled angle emissive display presentation of traffic signage, such as traffic lights and pedestrian crossing signs, that are visible only from the targeted traffic lane or walkway.

One or more embodiments of the present disclosure may be directed to a controlled angle emissive display.

A controlled angle emissive display apparatus includes a planar base structure, and a plurality of array columns coupled to the planar base structure, each array column having an array base having two or more angled sides, and an emissive element secured to at least one of the angled sides of the array base, wherein the plurality of array columns is arranged upon the planar base structure in a repeating pattern.

The controlled angle emissive display apparatus may have the plurality of array columns arranged parallel to one another at regularly spaced intervals.

The controlled angle emissive display apparatus may have the array base having three adjoined angled sides.

The controlled angle emissive display apparatus may have the three adjoined angled sides be configured having an interior angle of 120° formed between any two of the three adjoined angled sides.

The controlled angle emissive display apparatus may have the array base having five adjoined angled sides arranged having a central angled side adjoined to pairs of angled sides along orthogonal axes about the central angled side.

The controlled angle emissive display apparatus may have the five adjoined angled sides configured having an interior angle of 120° formed between the central angled side and each of the paired angled sides.

The controlled angle emissive display apparatus may have the emissive element include a light emitting diode (LED).

The controlled angle emissive display apparatus may have the emissive element include an organic light emitting diode (OLED) pixel unit.

A controlled angle emissive display array base apparatus includes a planar base structure, a first planar emissive surface having a first facing angle, a first emissive element, a first side, and a second side, a second planar emissive surface having a second emissive element and a second facing angle, and a third planar emissive surface having a third emissive element and a third facing angle, wherein the first planar emissive surface is coupled to the second planar emissive surface at the first side and the first planar emissive surface is coupled to the third planar emissive surface at the second side in a configuration having the first planar emissive surface displaced from the planar base structure.

The controlled angle emissive display array base apparatus may have the first facing angle of the first planar emissive surface be parallel to a normal axis defined by the planar base structure.

The controlled angle emissive display array base apparatus may have the first planar emissive surface further include a third side, and a fourth side.

The controlled angle emissive display array base apparatus may further include a fourth planar emissive surface having a fourth emissive element and a fourth facing angle, and a fifth planar emissive surface having a fifth emissive element and a fifth facing angle, wherein the first planar emissive surface is coupled to the fourth planar emissive surface at the third side and the first planar emissive surface is coupled to the fifth planar emissive surface at the fourth side.

The controlled angle emissive display array base apparatus may have the first emissive element, the second emissive element, and the third emissive element each include a light emitting diode (LED).

The controlled angle emissive display array base apparatus may have the first emissive element, the second emissive element, and the third emissive element each include an organic light emitting diode (OLED) pixel unit.

The controlled angle emissive display array base apparatus may have the first emissive element, the second emissive element, and the third emissive element each include a MicroLED unit.

The controlled angle emissive display array base apparatus may have the first emissive element, the second emissive element, and the third emissive element each include a lenticular lens unit.

The controlled angle emissive display array base apparatus may have the first emissive element, the second emissive element, and the third emissive element be configured to be independently addressed by one or more control circuits.

A 3-angle controlled angle emissive display apparatus includes a planar base structure defining a rectangular surface having a normal axis projecting perpendicular to the rectangular surface, a plurality of array columns arranged in a repeating pattern across the rectangular surface of the planar base structure, each of the array columns having one or more 3-sided array base units having an addressable emissive element for each of the 3 sides, and an addressable control circuit configured to operably couple to each addressable emissive element of the one or more 3-sided array base units.

The 3-angle controlled angle emissive display apparatus of claimmay have each 3-sided array base unit be configured to have a first side projecting a first viewing angle along a direction parallel to the normal axis projecting perpendicular to the rectangular surface of the planar base structure.

The 3-angle controlled angle emissive display apparatus may have each of the addressable emissive elements include a light emitting diode (LED).

Features of the inventive concept and methods of accomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description of embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The inventive concept may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided as examples so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the aspects and features of the present invention to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, processes, elements, and techniques that are not necessary to those having ordinary skill in the art for a complete understanding of the aspects and features of the present invention may not be described. Unless otherwise noted, like reference numerals denote like elements throughout the attached drawings and the written description, and thus, descriptions thereof will not be repeated. In the drawings, the relative sizes of elements, layers, and regions may be exaggerated for clarity.

It will be understood that, although the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer, or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer, or section described below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer, or section, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “under,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of explanation to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or in operation, in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” or “under” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example terms “below” and “under” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein should be interpreted accordingly.

It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it can be directly on, connected to, or coupled to the other element or layer, or one or more intervening elements or layers may be present. In addition, it will also be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “between” two elements or layers, it can be the only element or layer between the two elements or layers, or one or more intervening elements or layers may also be present.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and “including,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.

As used herein, the term “substantially,” “about,” and similar terms are used as terms of approximation and not as terms of degree, and are intended to account for the inherent deviations in measured or calculated values that would be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art. Further, the use of “may” when describing embodiments of the present invention refers to “one or more embodiments of the present invention.” As used herein, the terms “use,” “using,” and “used” may be considered synonymous with the terms “utilize,” “utilizing,” and “utilized,” respectively. Also, the term “exemplary” is intended to refer to an example or illustration.

Unless otherwise defined below, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and/or the present specification, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense, unless expressly so defined herein.

Controlled Angle Emissive Display: a display device configured to project one or more images along two or more angles using emissive light sources.

Controlled-angle Display: the selectable display of distinct images along different viewing angles.

3-angle: embodiments of an array base that include three (3) planar sides that may each be configured to couple to an emissive light source.

5-angle: embodiments of an array base that include five (5) planar sides that may each be configured to couple to an emissive light source.

Emissive Light Source: any light source configured to emit its own light.

Control Circuit: any combination of controllers, scan, drivers, processing units, power supplies, or other electronic devices and wires or conductive traces that may be communicably linked to one or more pixel units and be operated to selectively control said connected pixel units.

Lenticular Display: a display capable of projecting different images at distinct viewing angles simultaneously.

Stereoscopic Display: a display configured to project different images to each eye of a viewer thereby producing a stereoscopic effect.

MicroLED: a type of emissive light source having microscopic arrays of LEDs or other emissive light sources.

Pixel Unit: an emissive light source having one or more emissive elements that may be used to selectively emit light.

Facing Angle: the angle that an image is projected outward from the plane of a display relative to the normal axis projecting orthogonally outward from the plane of the display.

Interior Angle: the angle formed within an array base between two adjacent planar sides.

Viewing Angle: the angle at which a viewer is facing a display relative to the normal axis projecting orthogonally outward from the plane of the display.

One or more embodiments according to the present disclosure will now be described.

I. Controlled Angle Emissive Display Device

To help illustrate the terminology used herein to describe some embodiments of controlled angle emissive displays according to aspects of the present disclosure,shows a simplified diagram of a display environmentdepicting various angles, normal axis and facing angles, projecting from a display, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The displaymay be a controlled angle emissive display according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, the normal axis projects outward orthogonally from the plane of the display. Light emitted by the displayalong other angles, facing angles, may be describing according to the angular displacement of the facing anglesrelative to the normal axis.